News-Antique.com - May 16,2007 - MASTERPIECE BY MARK ROTHKO, OWNED BY DAVID
ROCKEFELLER, COMMANDS $72,840,000, SETTING A
RECORD FOR A CONTEMPORARY WORK OF ART
AT AUCTION
FRANCIS BACON’S STUDY FROM INNOCENT X SELLS FOR
$52,680,000, A RECORD FOR THE ARTIST AT AUCTION
New York, New York, May 16, 2007 – Sotheby’s spring sales of Contemporary Art in New York made
auction history yesterday and today, bringing $344,474,800, exceeding its high estimate and achieving the
2
highest total ever for sales of Contemporary Art (est. $251.3/340.3 million*). Two masterpieces shattered
the previous record for a contemporary work of art at auction. At least five bidders competed for Mark
Rothko’s White Center (Yellow, Pink and Lavender on Rose) from the collection of David Rockefeller,
which sold for $72,800,000 to an anonymous buyer over the telephone to a wave of applause, setting a
new record for a contemporary work of art at auction, as well as for the artist (est. in excess of $40 million).
At least four bidders battled for Francis Bacon’s Study from Innocent X, 1962, which brought
$52,680,000, a record for the artist at auction, selling to an anonymous buyer over the telephone (est. in
excess of $30 million). Records were also set for works by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Robert Rauschenberg,
Tom Wesselmann, Richard Prince, Hans Hofmann, Dan Flavin and John Baldessari, among many others.
Four lots in the two-day auction brought over $10 million; six achieved over $5 million; and 50 sold for
over $1 million. Nearly 70% of the lots sold exceeded their high estimates.
Tobias Meyer, Sotheby’s Worldwide Head of Contemporary Art, said of the May 15th sale: “Tonight was a
fantastic evening – a record on many levels. It was a record for any Contemporary Art sale and also
achieved the record for a work of contemporary art at auction – twice in the same evening – first with the
Bacon, which was followed by the spectacular price achieved for the Rothko. There was international
bidding tonight coming from a global client base that pursues great quality ferociously.” “In addition,”
continued Anthony Grant, Senior Specialist of Contemporary Art, “in this remarkable sale we doubled our
previous record total for Contemporary Art, $128.8 million fetched in our evening sale last May, and set at
least fifteen artist records, the most notable of course being the Rothko and the Bacon.”
A masterpiece by Mark Rothko, White Center (Yellow, Pink and Lavender on Rose), which came
from the collection of David Rockefeller, prominent philanthropist, banker, statesman and patriarch of
one of America’s most renowned families, brought $72,800,000. It was a new record for a contemporary
work of art at auction and a record for the artist at auction, and it sold to an anonymous buyer over the
telephone after competition from at least four other bidders. The pristine work, which had never before
appeared at auction, was estimated to sell for in excess of $40 million, and at the post-sale press
conference, Mr. Meyer confirmed that “going into the sale, the quality of the work